Welcome to Coffee Talk! Let’s start off the day by discussing whatever is on your (nerd chic) mind. Every morning I’ll kick off a discussion and I’m counting on you to participate in it. If you’re not feelin’ my topic, feel free to start a chat with your fellow readers and see where it takes you. Whether you’re talking about videogames, whether the Palm Pre can make it big in 2010, all these people from Alabama finally leaving LA, or Gilbert Arenas vs. Plaxico Burress in a shooting contest, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.
A lot of people would have figured that Final Fantasy XIII would have been my most-wanted game of 2010. That would have been a perfectly reasonable guess and I was definitely tempted to give it the top spot. To be totally honest, I actually want Quantic Dream’s Heavy Rain more than FFXIII.
I’m a big fan of Quantic Dream’s previous games. The company excels at interactive storytelling. Its last game, Indigo Prophecy, was brilliant. The game combined deep storytelling, outstanding acting, and fantastic music to create a unique mood. The downer was it was ugly as crap, looking like a game from the previous generation. Judging from the released videos and screens, Heavy Rain will not have this problem. I’m hoping that it will combine all the aspects of Quantic Dream’s previous games with bleeding-edge visuals.
Before I ask for your top pick for 2010, I have to note that there were a bunch of games that were so close to making the cut. God of War III, Pokemon Soul Silver (and Heart Gold), Super Street Fighter IV, Mass Effect 2, BioShock 2, 3D Dot Game Heroes, and The Last Guardian were all considered. This year is going to be so awesome for games!!!
Now, what’s your most wanted game of 2010?
#1 Mass Effect 2
Bioware is a company that certainly doesn't disappoint. and I have no doubt this game will by my only 100+ hour game of the year. I also think that this will be the best trilogy out this gen. hopefully PS3 users will get a chance to start from the beginning when Mass Effect goes multi
Mass Effect 2. I consider the first one my favorite game of this console generation. 'Nuff said.
Diablo 3. It has to release this year. It will be game of games and will make me stop buying console games for at least a year. Blizzard is the best in the business and I expect nothing short of a great piece of story telling with tons of thought put into game design and gameplay.
Bioshock 2. I played the first on the PC then rented and beat it on the 360, then bought it for my PS3. I can't get enough of the atmosphere.
@smartguy – are you one of those people upset by the art design of Diablo 3?
Off Topic – I'm pretty annoyed that MW2 asked me like 3 times if I was "absolutely sure" I wanted to up the difficulty level to Veteran. I found it condescending, I don't care that i didn't run the course fast enough for their taste. It makes me most mad because the game isn't really that hard on Veteran and outside of a couple of parts it's been a breeze.
@shockwave
Not at all. I thought the people complaining about the art design were off their rockers. I trust Blizzard to do what is right for their game, mythology and atmosphere.
My opinion, but I think a lot of those people thought they could get it changed based on the fact that the WoW team pays close attention to the WoW forums. I'm willing to bet a lot of the people complaining were forum junkies who are professional complainers or douchebags who didn't play WoW because they thought the art was too cartoonish.
@smartguy – some PC gamers can be the worst, like the L4D2 haters. A lot of these forum junkies just have way to much time on their hands.
Mass Effect 2.
F*uck is there a parrot in here. I have to say that if they were to release it on PS3, I would buy the whole series over again just to play it through, though I am more then happy to invest ever so slightly into the Xbox360 just to get my hands on it.
@HeavyRain – I can't put it up there. Honestly, and we are really nothing but honest here, there is something truly terrifying about this game. There is a boundry that is being crossed, some sacred space that leaves me chill as though a goose just walked over my future grave. I don't know what it is, but there is just this strange underlying feeling of dread I get whenever I look at the still images or movies that have been released about it. Maybe it's the juxtopoisition of life and the characters, the fact that we are supposed to live out their lives within the context of the story; following them to the store, to the bathroom for make-up, up the stairs to put their kids to bed, and yet everything is planned out. Sure there seems to be a smattering of choice, in fact some of them will cause the character you are living through to die and not be present for the remainder of the story, but it's still just another place along the road map the devs have laid out for you.
Maybe it's that false sense of choice that really bugs me the most. I don't have the choice to kiss my kid at the foot of the stairs and tell them to get on to bed, I don't have the choice to take myself out of a possibly deadly situation in a club even though it is clear that I really don't want to be there doing what I am doing. I know that it's the narrative, and that without it there would be no story to tell, but there is just something inherently wrong about what is being presented.
I might rent it, I might wait to hear what everyone has to say and base my decision on that… but I just can't see it being… fun. Wow. Preverse thought. Do they really have to be anymore…
@Larcenous – when I post my preview article on Heavy Rain next week I'll hit on some of these points and post a link here, but there is one thing I wanted to reiterate from yesterdays discussion.
Indigo Prophecy was not necessarily a fun game. To be honest, the "simon says" QTEs were the worst. but that was one of the most entertaining and story driven games I've played, ever. maybe it was more creepy than it was fun, but I was hanging on to that game like a child and his blanket.
#1 Bioshock 2
#2 God of War 3
#3 Bad Company 2
Honorable Mention:
M.A.G.
Heavy Rain
I Am Alive
Gran Turismo 5
ModNation Racers
Halo: Reach
Crackdown 2
@Shockwave562 If I recall correctly, didn't the QTE segments annoy you because you had difficulty with them? I found them to be pretty innocuous. They were just kind of there — didn't entertain me or bother me.
@Larcenous: Well put on Heavy Rain. You and I tend to see this game very much the same way. I think I get the appeal for other people, and I'm certainly no stranger to the occasional niche game. But what I've seen of Heavy Rain just does nothing for me.
It's Heavy Rain for me as the game I'm most interested in this year. I would have said Mass Effect 2, but I haven't played the first one (although I want to), so as a policy, I don't play sequels unless I've played the first game.
There are exceptions, of course, but I'm not making one for Mass Effect. From what I've heard, the experience would be better suited to those whom played the first installment. Besides, Heavy Rain to me looks like a throw back to those old story-style PC games of yore that placed live-action story over gameplay that I loved so dearly yet don’t see much of nowadays.
-M
@Rpad – you nailed it, although I believe QTEs should disappear from gaming. I never really liked the trend.
Of course I was the kid who couldn't quite master the combos in Mortal Kombat and Street Fighter when I was a kid. I think a lot of the gaming industry seems to be tired of them.
As far as Indigo Prophecy goes, I could take them or leave them, they weren't exactly fun and they kind of distracted from the action visuals (such as they were)
From the videos it appears as though the on screen QTEs in Heavy Rain are not in the way of the action, but whether or not they add anything to the gameplay is yet to be determined.
Of all the games it is Halo: Reach that gets me most giddy. After MW1 came I out, I thought I would never go back to a Halo game again. Two years later ODST drops and I'm sucked back in again. Dang Bungie for making the best campaigns in any shooter. Hopefully the online can hold me this time, as ODST didn't have much of any of its own.
@Sandrock – I'm a little concerned that Halo Reach is going to be some sort of MMO like MAG. if that's the case I don't know if I'll bite.
I'd also like to see a redesigned game engine this time around and visuals that offers 720p natively. There was a time when Halo CE was the best looking game on any console, in that department they've slipped.
@Shockwave562
As long as they keep their campaign good, I'm not worried about the online. It would be great if the online returned to the top spot, but it won't stop me from getting it if it isn't. Actually I think it might be an MMO, which would be cool, but their last trailer has me doubting it.
@Halo Reach: Looks like it could be class based squad combat from what I've seen in the one trailer. Mind you, that's a total guess and frankly I think it would be awesome to do a true co-op squad based shooter with class based dynamics in the Halo universe.
FFXIV Online. Sadly that's not for 11 months so all my others come first lol.
@Larcenous;
Here's a treat for you:
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/zero-…
Guess who Yahtzee gave his "Game of the Year" award to? My favorite is actually "The Razor Blade Filled Vagina Award" for the fastest reversal of fortune.
-M
@ Iceman
That video is brilliant.
I'm a pretty big fan of zero punctuation
I also have to side with Plax in the shooting contest. I always liked Plax. The guy reaches up over the defenders, grabs the ball, and falls right there. That's all he needed to do I'm just thankful he waited until he left Pittsburgh to do something stupid.
@N8R
No sympathy for Plax. I think the penalty for carrying a gun in NYC is outrageous though. Damn liberal charlatans.
I have never understood why so many people are for banning guns.
@Smartguy;
That's what happens when you don't teach basic constitutional law in school. Like video games, there are people out there that think guns cause violence instead of a means to an end of a twisted and/or deranged individual. If NYC bans guns, you're going to see a lot more deaths by hammers… also guns, since criminals don't abide by the law anyway.
-M
#1. God of War III
Do I really have to type anything here? Those who have played GOW I & II know that it needs no introduction. I've played the GOW III demo several times and love it. The Story in GOW is absolutely epic in every sense of the word. I find it funny that other hack-n-slasher are getting compared to GOW III. GOW III is not all about combat, the story puts it on another level from other games. GOW is truly at the top of it's class.
@Mass Effect
I definitely want to give it a go. When or if ever EA and Bioware decide to develop the PS3 version I will definitely buy it. I know it's on PC but my desktop is old and I don't want to upgrade it.
What do you guys think of M$'s new Game Room addition? I read that they will be charging 50 cents to play a game. When I was a kid the arcade only cost 25 cents to play a game. Where do they get the nerve to charge double for 20 year old game that can be played for free everywhere else? Atari.com is one place to go to play these games for free.
@RROD – my understanding is that you *buy* arcade games for 200-500 MS points and add to your own arcade collection, subsequent plays are free, like any arcade game on XBL
@Shockwave
Nope.
"Games can be purchased for play on both the Xbox 360 and PC for MSP 400 ($5), or for an individual platform at MSP 240 ($3) apiece. Alternatively, gamers can carry on in the coin-op tradition by purchasing single rounds of any individual game for MSP 40 ($.50)."
http://ces.gamespot.com/story/6245046/microsoft-d…
RROD, so yes… In fact better because gamers can choose to keep them or to play them once
@RRoD: Shockwave is right here I believe. The key word in the quote you posted was "Alternatively," meaning that it's an either/or situation. Gamers can either buy the game outight for the $3-$5 worth of MS points, or go for the coin option at $.50 worth of MS points per play.
AWESOME LINK (RROD will like it especially)
http://www.videogamer.com/news/dice_bad_company_2…
enjoy!
@Smartguy
I read that article you posted. Well, I played the beta to Battlefield 2 and judging from the beta it's nowhere near Uncharted 2's multi player graphics.
@RROD
That was the beta, I'm sure the finished product will be somewhat better. What I enjoyed was the fact that another developer who isn't even making the same kind of game is noticing and responding to the bar that Naughty Dog set. This is good for us.
1. Attack of the cheeseburger spiders
im not a fan of zero punctuation, as yahtzee seems to hate everything, but that particular episode was surprisingly spot on
seriously, its heavy rain…but god of war 3 is right there too, i consider them 1a and 1b
#1 game- Rage
this game looks amazing and I am hoping to log a lot of hours on this one eventually.
Happy Birthday to my little boy, who turns 3 today!!!
Hey congratulations!!!! Hope he has a great day!!
@Bsukenyan: He got a bike, so he's in a little boy heaven.
@Nightshade
Happy birthday to little Nightshade. Mine turned 3 last month. He wanted the Diego rescue pack.
@Smartguy
Agreed.
@ Nightshade
Happy birthday to the little man.
@nightshade. Yeah it's been a while since I've had a bike, but I remember the excitement. I usually got legos when I was around his age…of course that was also when you used to get a decent amount of legos for your money, not like now.
Yeah, my son's so tall we skipped over the Big Wheel stage (sad face). I feel like I missed a part of his childhood. On the funnier side, as he was riding his bike around the kitchen this morning, my wife got him to try and say "respect my athoratay."
A big wheel should definitely be a vital part of every little boys life!! But it's not too bad to have a bike earlier than anyone else either. And cartman is always a good role model for our nation's youth.